Five Degrees South
by Orcux
Summary: Makoto thinks that Haru's dislike for winter is frankly quite unhealthy and attempts to change his opinion on it. It's too bad that some things will never change though. MakoHaru


It's never too early for winter.

**Pairing: MakoHaru  
>Warnings: Icy cold snow falling upon you<strong>

* * *

><p><span><strong>Five Degrees South<strong>

A freezing draft blew by, as the old, dusky tree trunk made an odd, crackling noise. The wood, contracting in the frost, seized up once again, and its thick tree branches shivered violently, shaking a humongous pile of fresh snow off from their woody surface.

It was rather unfortunate for the raven-haired male sitting under the majestic yet rather weakened tree, knees crouched to his chest, as the snow fell directly on top of him, engulfing him within the freezing mass of white.

But for someone who had just narrowly escaped being drowned in the product of crystalline water ice, he showed no visible sign of discontent and continued staring at the frozen lake. Instead, he spoke up for the first time in the past ten minutes. "Makoto…"

"Hmm?"

"…Can we go home already?"

Makoto sighed softly, before moving over to pinch his friend on the cheek lightly. "Come on, Haru! It hasn't even been ten minutes since we reached this place!" Then softer, "I wanted to cheer you up by bringing you here."

Haruka fell silent, before continuing to glare at the frozen lake. eyes scanning it so intently, it was as if he wanted to burn holes through the solidified layer of ice.

"Haru-chan? You're looking at the lake as if you want to burn holes through it." Makoto decided to voice his thoughts, reaching out to sweep the snowflakes off his best friend's hair, glittering ice crystals hanging off his dark locks.

Haruka glanced at him. "Don't be silly Makoto. You know I can't. And don't call me that."

Makoto smiled indulgently, his hand pausing in its conquest to defeat the sparkling trails of snow in his hair. "But you want to, don't you, Haru?"

Haruka looked slightly mollified as Makoto dropped the suffix. "But I can't." His gaze trailed back to the frozen lake, and an almost indiscernible sigh escaped from his lips. "I wonder when spring will come."

Makoto's laughed softly, seeing as to how Haruka didn't deny it, and continued sweeping the last of the snowflakes off his hair. Haruka silently allowed him, having been used to his best friend's antics ever since they were young. The iced flakes clinging to his hair made for an oddly beautiful sight, and it almost felt like a shame to brush them off, but he knew that Haruka wouldn't bother to do so himself, and he'd just catch a cold.

What Haruka had said bothered him a little though, and he followed Haruka's gaze, feeling an odd twisting sensation in his stomach. Winter was a festive season- he himself had found that it was one of his favourite seasons, with all its pure white beauty, but his best friend didn't seem to think that way. If anything, Haruka seemed to hate it with a passion, looking forward to the end of winter as soon as December began.

The main reason for his dislike for anything frozen, he was sure, was because it prevented him from taking his daily dip in the pool or lake or rather, any plausible body of water he could submerge himself in. He was pretty sure Haruka didn't have any qualms with swimming in icy cold water (he'd caught Haruka trying to break the solid sheet of ice covering the lake with a sharp rock on a winter morning a few years ago), but as long as Makoto was around, there was no way he'd allow Haruka to do something as unhealthy as _swimming_ in freezing temperatures.

Briefly, he wondered if Haruka resented him for that.

Any of his plans which had to do with snow was shot down unceremoniously whenever he tried to convince Haruka to join him. Skiing, ice skating, even eating iced shavings... It almost seemed as if the sapphire-eyes boy felt that by playing with ice, he would be fraternizing with the enemy, the very layer of ice which was the only thing stopping from him diving into the lake in front of him right now.

His inner thoughts were interrupted by Haruka, who looked surprisingly serious. "Makoto... Did you know that this lake is haunted?" The soft voice beside him, added onto the extremely foreboding content of that sentence made Makoto jolt up, his eyes widening in fear. Haruka continued to watch him closely for a reaction, his piercing blue eyes making Makoto feel even more nervous. "H-Haru? What are you saying?" He stuttered nervously, subconsciously edging closer to his best friend, the first person he grabbed onto every time he was scared.

Haruka didn't respond when he ended up clinging to him, shivering fingers digging into his arm, but it looked like he was smiling slightly. "Water spirits." He elaborated, a content expression on his face, as if it was self-explanatory. Which it probably was, but Makoto was too scared to care. He edged away from the lake slightly, hugging his knees slightly. It made him feel slightly safer.

He really didn't care if the spirits were waterborne or anything; ghosts were ghosts!

Haruka looked a little too amused as he turned his gaze away. "It was a joke," he said blandly, obviously taking pity on his terrified friend.

Makoto couldn't even bring himself to get annoyed with the other male- he was too relieved that it wasn't true, and he wasn't about to get devoured by a vengeful water spirit.

Come to think of it, Haruka was probably just trying to _persuade _him to leave the lakeside by using his worst fear as a weapon.

How absolutely terrifying.

It wouldn't do to lose to that innocent expression though, and Makoto straightened his shoulders out again as he nodded to himself determinedly.

And with that, Makoto tried to bring the mood to something less creepy.

"Haru, what do you want for Christmas?" He tried, smiling a little at the thought of the festive event. Christmas was the only winter event that even Haruka seemed to enjoy. The raven-haired teen would stare at his presents, brilliant sapphire eyes shining in anticipation until Makoto laughed and told him that it was okay to open them. Sometimes, Haruka would even sneak them into the bath with him to open them in privacy, but it always ended up with Makoto chasing after him desperately. It wouldn't do to get his presents wet, after all.

"You already know. What's the point in asking?" Haruka mumbled, turning away from Makoto, who laughed quietly to himself. It wasn't exactly his fault that he could see right through Haruka- he had spent so much time with him since they were kids, that reading Haruka's every expression, twitch or frown now came naturally to him.

The small frown on Haruka's lips was a tell-tale sign now, that he just wanted to go home, away from the frigid, icy weather, and soak inside the bathtub for a few hours.

Oh well, if Haruka really wanted to go home, he couldn't really stop him. It looked like their little outing by the lake had been fruitless, as Makoto had just wanted to cheer his friend up a little, pulling him out from his dour wintery mood.

He sighed softly and stood up, brushing snow off his jeans, before offering a hand to Haruka, who shot him a wary look. "Don't soak in for too long," Makoto warned softly, a smile on his face. "You'll catch a cold."

The frown on Haruka's face wavered, and the uncertain look on Haruka's face was so adorable, but Makoto resisted the urge to go 'aww' and pinch his cheeks like his instincts were telling him to. Instead, he continued to wait patiently for Haruka to place his slightly smaller hand in his, the icy cold touch of his skin making him shudder slightly, before pulling Haruka up from the frozen banks.

"Thanks." Haruka mumbled, before turning away quickly, making his way down the meandering slope leading to the steps home. Makoto smiled indulgently at his retreating figure, before he glanced back at the lake for a moment, whispering a small prayer under his breath to the spirits which may or may not exist.  
><em><br>"May winter come to a close quickly so that Haru can swim soon."_


End file.
